Although Federal officials' wives have been linked to scandals such as Hilary Clinton's involvement in Whitewater or Elizabeth Dole's mishandling of the Red Cross, few have ever been handed a subpoena to answer questions regarding possible influence peddling and mishandling of financial records. Such is the case with Wendy Gramm, wife of Texas Senator Phil Gramm, who was recently served with a subpoena by Senator Carl Levin (D-MI). Senator Levin heads the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigation, and is widely respected by members of both parties. .
Bush family friend Wendy Gramm's story dates back to George Bush Senior's administration, when the Elder Bush appointed Ms. Gramm as chairwoman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to serve her 5-year term, 1988-1993 (Herbert 17). Congress created the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in 1974 as "an independent agency with the mandate to regulate commodity futures and option markets in the United States- (CTFC).
The agency protects market participants against manipulation, abusive trade practices and fraud. Through effective oversight and regulation, the CFTC enables the markets to serve better their important functions in the nation's economy--providing a mechanism for price discovery and a means of offsetting price risk-. .
It is important to remember this CFTC mission statement in light of recent events. In a speech released by Congressman Bernie Saunders (I-VT) on Dec 12, 2001 regarding the Enron Bankruptcy case, the Congressman (who took no money from Enron or Andersen) made this brief statement: .
"In 1992, a key regulatory ruling was made by Wendy Gramm, the wife of Texas Senator Phil Gramm. The ruling made Enron exempt from federal scrutiny and thereby allowed it to hide huge amounts of speculative debt behind nonexistent profits. Wendy Gramm went on to become a member of the company's [sic] board of directors- (Sanders).